Global Cement News

Taiwan: Taiwan Cement’s profit has risen so far in 2019 due to stable cement prices and falling coal prices. Its net profit increased by 11.1% year-on-year to US$214m in the first nine months of 2019, according to the Taipei Times newspaper. However, its sales revenue fell by 3.5% to US$2.87bn. The cement producer says it has a production capacity of 102Mt/yr following the formation of a joint venture in Turkey and an acquisition in Portugal in 2018.

The company reported higher labour, transportation and raw material costs in China in the third quarter of 2019. Its expenses were also inflated by environmental upgrades. Company president John Li said, that despite falling prices in Guizhou province, demand in regional markets, including Guangdong, Guangxi and Jiangsu provinces was expected to remain beneficial.

US: Cemex is looking to sell its majority stake in the Kosmos Cement plant at Louisville in Kentucky. Sources quoted by the El Financiero newspaper said that the integrated plant could be valued as high as US$750m. Cemex is working with Bank of America and Citigroup on the potential sale. Buzzi Unicem, through its subsidiary Dyckerhoff, owns the remaining stake in the plant. Cemex’s decision to try and sell the plant follows falling sales and profits for the Mexican building materials producer so far in 2019.

Philippines: The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is considering voluntary commitments submitted by First Stronghold Cement and related parties in connection to its proposed acquisition of Holcim Philippines. First Stronghold Cement, an indirect subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, has agreed to buy an 85.7% stake in Holcim Philippines, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. Companies undertaking acquisitions can make behavioural or structural voluntary commitments during the process to alleviate competition concerns with the PCC. Behavioural commitments include market constraints imposed by the PCC whilst structural commitments cover divesting assets.

Initial findings by the PCC on the proposed purchase found it could affect the market concentration of relevant products in parts of Luzon, and Northern and Southern Mindanao. This would normally prompt a stage two review of the proposed acquisition. However, if the PCC accepts the suggested voluntary commitments it would bypass this step.

India: HeidelbergCement India is targeting expansion options to increase its production capacity to 20Mt/yr from 12.5Mt/yr. Managing director Jamshed Cooper said that the company is looking at companies in the range of 5 – 10Mt/yr in order to avoid the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) process, according to the Indo-Asian News Service. The cement producer is also planning to build a 22MW waste heat recovery unit at its Zuari plant in Yerraguntla, Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$28m. Debottlenecking initiatives are also being conducted at a cost of US$7m to increase overall production capacity by 0.5Mt/yr when completed in 2021.

The group operates two subsidiaries locally: HeidelbergCement India and Zuari Cement. HeidelbergCement India serves the central markets and Zuari Cement, a former Italcementi subsidiary, focuses on the south of the country.

Egypt: Arabian Cement’s sales revenue fell by 5% year-on-year to US$139m in the first nine months of 2019 from US$147m in the same period in 2018. Local sales dropped whilst export sales and services rose. Its profit for the period after tax decreased to US$2m from US$13.3m.